I'm brand new to quilting - in fact it was a snap decision. I was in the quilting store looking for fabric for other crafty adventures and they had this behind the counter WoolyFlowerI could not resist - I've never done any quilting, so why not jump in with a big project? Anyway, my question has to do with the embroidery for the details and such - is this something that you need an embroidery hoop to keep the material flat? And what does "square up" mean? Is that sort of like blocking in knitting?

For those of you who may not want to trek out to New Haven, a few of us have tried to get a shorline group going (serving Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Branford, etc) - we have met at the Madison starbucks, the Paperback cafe, and most recently the Guilford Tavern - it's a stitch and sip! Anyway, we're definetly looking for more participants...<center><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SnB_CTshore/join"><img src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/yg/img/i/us/ui/join.gif" border="0" alt="Click here to join SnB_CTshore"><br>Click to join SnB_CTshore</a></center>

I am looking for some help here - I have a large Kermit the Frog stuffed toy that was won for me at Dave and Busters a few years back... It's at least 3 feet tall - with long arms / legs. I am a science teacher and wanted to bring Kermit into my classroom as a mascot, but I didn't want him to be without the proper gear - a lab coat! Any ideas on how to go about starting this? I can figure out the exact measurements / size later (and provide a picture, but right now it's charging.) I didn't know if I could adapt an American Girl sort of pattern, or if there was a kid-sized lab coat / halloween costume!

I'm thinking a simple white lab coat, maybe with a pocket, and I'll embroider "Kermit" or something on it. Buttons, collars are not necessary.